To give or not to give?

If you've spent enough time in downtown Kalamazoo, you may have heard one of these stories from a panhandler asking for some spare change or an extra dollar:

"I ran out of gas down the street."

"I need diapers for my new baby."

"I need bus money to get to my job interview."

"The hurricane hit me hard."

Or maybe not.

Vicky Kettner, community-relations director for Downtown Kalamazoo Inc. who works with community leaders to address the issue of panhandling, worries that the perception about the frequency of the problem is overblown.

"It's not a big problem downtown," Kettner said, adding that complaints and feedback from the community about panhandling has been lower this summer than in previous years.